American Folk

Lisa Elmaleh employs the 19th century wet collodion tintype process in her documentation of present-day folk musicians living in and around the Appalachian Mountains. Preserving the essence of a tradition tied distinctly to place, Elmaleh creates portraits and landscapes of haunting beauty. The subject matter and the chosen photographic process are paired purposefully, as Elmaleh explains; “The tradition of American folk music echoes in the historic nature of the tintype photographic process. As urbanization becomes more prevalent in America, American rural identity and culture become obscured.”

Elmaleh is a Brooklyn-based photographer and educator at the School of Visual Arts and the Center for Alternative Photography. She has been awarded PDN’s 30, the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Grant, the Aaron Siskind Foundation IPF Grant, and The Everglades National Park Artist Residency. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and appeared in Harper’s Magazine, PDN, and Rangefinder, among others.